LINCOLN’S DILEMMA 

“Freedom wasn’t the work of one person”

Animated inserts and the Main Title sequence created by Studio AKA Directors: Steve Small, Marcus Armitage, and Gergely Wootsch; for this four-part historical documentary series that explores the complex journey to end slavery during the time of Abraham Lincoln.

 

Produced by Kunhardt Films for Apple TV+, the series is based on acclaimed historian David S. Reynolds’ award-winning book, “Abe: Abraham Lincoln in His Times,” and features insights from a diverse range of journalists, educators, and Lincoln scholars, as well as rare archival materials, that offer a more nuanced look into the man dubbed ‘The Great Emancipator’.

Set against the background of the Civil War, Lincoln’s Dilemma also gives voice to the narratives of enslaved people, shaping a more complete view of an America divided over issues including the economy, race, and humanity, underscoring Lincoln’s battle to save the country, no matter the cost.

 

Dir. Montage Edits.

Image for project Lincolns Dilemma

Dir Gergely Wootsch Montage edit.

Image for project Lincolns Dilemma

Dir Marcus Armitage Montage edit.

Image for project Lincolns Dilemma

Dir Steve Small Montage edit.

Each episode includes reflective moments of the presidency that depict this tumultuous period in American history and are designed around the wealth of photographic images taken by Matthew Brady of Lincoln and the civil war period. The Kunhardt’s great-great grandfather’s collection of photos, the largest archive of civil war photography in existence – including over a hundred pictures of Lincoln – provided an incredible and insightful resource for the directors. The documentary covers the subject of slavery and emancipation, seen through the lens of race and the Presidential campaign, and gives a fascinating and illuminating insight into Lincoln’s life.

Image for project Lincolns Dilemma

Marcus Armitage

Image for project Lincolns Dilemma

Steve Small

Image for project Lincolns Dilemma

Gergely Wootsch

Image for project Lincolns Dilemma

Steve Small

Image for project Lincolns Dilemma

Gergely Wootsch

Image for project Lincolns Dilemma

Steve Small

Each episode also focuses on a specific period of Lincoln’s life and includes animated sequences that depict stories told from previously unheard perspectives. The sensitivity of the subject matter required dedicated research on the part of the animation directors, guided by the series directors Barak Goodman and Jacqueline Olive. Foremost in the challenges that the project presented was the complexity, emotion, and sometimes pure brutality of what needed to be portrayed while staying true to the myriad of historical details that were carefully curated and advised by the Kunhardts.

Image for project Lincolns Dilemma

Steve Small

Image for project Lincolns Dilemma

Gergely Wootsch

Image for project Lincolns Dilemma

Marcus Armitage

Image for project Lincolns Dilemma

Steve Small

Image for project Lincolns Dilemma

Gergely Wootsch

Image for project Lincolns Dilemma

Marcus Armitage

Animation Direction

The animation directors each took a slightly different yet symbiotic creative approach to the production.

 

Steve Small’s shots were based around traditionally brush-marked artwork, with carefully considered action and pace to portray complex imagery with a real sense of engagement into the stories. Marcus Armitage and Gergely Wootsch’s direction is rooted more directly in the resource of the photographic library. Both use their vision and capability in their techniques to navigate us through stories derived from elements of the glass photo plates archive provided, placing the viewer into each scene and providing a more experiential approach to their sequences.

Image for project Lincolns Dilemma

Gergely Wootsch

Image for project Lincolns Dilemma

Marcus Armitage

Image for project Lincolns Dilemma

Steve Small

Image for project Lincolns Dilemma

Steve Small

Image for project Lincolns Dilemma

Gergely Wootsch

Image for project Lincolns Dilemma

Steve Small

The resulting sequences are beautifully bound into the substance of the documentary as a whole and add the missing dimensions to the overall storytelling, enabling the viewer to consider a deeper understanding of the complexities of life during the civil war; and from the perspective of voices not always heard.

 

Watch the Apple TV+ Trailer

Image for project Lincolns Dilemma

Discover the Apple TV+ series HERE Plus more information from Apple HERE and HERE

Credits

For APPLE TV +

Client KUNDHARDT FOUNDATION

 

Production Company KUNHARDT FILMS 

Series Directors BARAK GOODMAN & JACQUELINE OLIVE

Based on the book by DAVID S. REYNOLDS

Series production credits in full at IMDB

 

Animation Production STUDIO AKA

Animation Directors MARCUS ARMITAGE  STEVE SMALL GERGELY WOOTSCH

Animation Producer NIKKI KEFFORD-WHITE

Production Assistant LARA SALAM

Editor NIC GILL

3D CGI team lead JAMES GAILLARD

Production Coordinator REN PESCI

Lead Animation/Artwork Coordinators JANINA PUTZKER MATTHEW ARMITAGE

2D animators AYLEN SOLANDER • EMMA EHRLING • OSCAR JACOBSON

3D animators KIM LEOW  IVAN DEL RIO

Artworkers JUSTINE WALDIE • MARTIN OLIVER  MANSHEN LO DIANA GRADINARU

CG Artists & Compositors JOSHUA CREW • WILL EAGAR • JEROME FERRA • DANIEL GARNERONE

VINCENT HUSSET • IGNATZ JOHNSON-HIGHAM • ADAM O’SULLIVAN AVERY

 

 

Nominated for ‘Outstanding Graphic Design and Art Direction: Documentary’ at the 44th News & Documentary Emmys.

 

 

“We have produced multiple films, series and books about President Lincoln over the past two decades. At the start of Lincoln’s Dilemma we sought to produce something very different. With Apple TV+ as our partner we knew we wanted to push the boundaries and create something visually stunning. Enter Studio AKA. The visual look their team brought to this series allowed us to tell stories we never could before. Studio AKA not only stepped up to the challenge, they delivered some of the most powerful animations and creative visual storytelling we have ever seen in a documentary.”

– George Kunhardt, Executive Producer of Lincoln’s Dilemma

You may also like...

Raised By Wolves

Title Sequence
VIEW

Black Earth Rising

Sequences for drama series
VIEW

A Song For Europa

Film for JOHANN JOHANNSSON
VIEW

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire

Feature Sequence
VIEW

ICEMAN

Sequence Inserts
VIEW

BODIES

Main Title Design
VIEW

BBC Storyworks – Journey of Electricity

Journey of Electricity
VIEW

Queen Charlotte

Main Title design
VIEW

The Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration

Commissioned Short Film
VIEW

The Early Birds

Commissioned PSA
VIEW

Amazon

Ad: That Reading Feeling
VIEW

A Trip To Infinity

Documentary Sequence
VIEW

The Macallan & Bond

Commercial
VIEW

Something Out Of Nothing

Commissioned Short Film
VIEW

A Boy Called Christmas

Lumi Sequence
VIEW

Climate Healers

PSA: Vega The Cow
VIEW

JOJO IN THE STARS

Picapedia
VIEW

Kipchoge

Title Sequence
VIEW

Here We Are

Notes For Living On Planet Earth
VIEW

E4

Ident: New Breed
VIEW

Godmothered

Animated Intro Seq.
VIEW

Herman Miller

Promo: Formwork
VIEW

The Meth Project

PSA Campaign
VIEW

Admiral

Ad Campaign
VIEW

Joules

Ad: A Woodland Tale.
VIEW

Estée Lauder

Ad: Christmas Holidays
VIEW

Bellefaire

PSA: Value You
VIEW

Fedrigoni

Ad: Paper Box
VIEW

Key

Ad Campaign
VIEW

I’m Sticking With You

Book Trailer.
VIEW

On

Ad: Taming Giants
VIEW

A Morning Stroll

Short Film
VIEW

Ib Antoni

Animated Posters
VIEW

Giri / Haji

Animated Sequences
VIEW

BMW

Ad: Road Monster
VIEW

HEY DUGGEE

TV Series
VIEW

TED: Oliver Jeffers

An ode to living on Earth
VIEW

Lost And Found

Short Film
VIEW

Johnnie Walker

Ad: Keep Walking
VIEW

Gumball

Animated Sequence
VIEW

TSB Campaign

Ad Campaign
VIEW

Yeah Just There

Short Film for GRANIMATOR
VIEW

Greenies

Ad: Pill Pockets
VIEW

National Lottery

Ad: The Big Win
VIEW

Sing Up

PSA: Tone
VIEW

Varmints

Short Film
VIEW

Mended Little Hearts

Fundraising film
VIEW

Hyundai

Ad Campaign
VIEW

San Pellegrino

Ad: Taste
VIEW

Science Museum

Exhibit film: Who Am I?
VIEW

Bupa

Feel Better Campaign
VIEW

Seconds From Greatness

Sponsership Ident
VIEW

Lloyds TSB

Ad Campaign
VIEW

TSB: The Story

Campaign Launch Films
VIEW

NY Public Library

Insta Stories for Insta Novels
VIEW

OTTO

Ad: Time
VIEW

Naturnes

Ad: First Family
VIEW

Stuck On A Sunday

Film Teaser Sequence
VIEW

Disney: Playing for the Planet

PSA: Recycling
VIEW

SKYPE

Ad Campaign
VIEW

Orange

Classic Ad Campaign
VIEW

KVADRAT

Promo: The Wool Parade
VIEW

BBC Winter Olympics

Title Sequence
VIEW

Love Sport

Short Film Series
VIEW

Park Foot Ball

Hand Of God
VIEW

Lincolns Dilemma

Documentary Sequences
VIEW